Health Archives - Page 2 of 2 - 12 Minute Athlete

Why You Need to Be Active Outside of the Gym

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home from my Krav Maga class followed by an epic grocery shopping trip (I hadn’t been for a while) when I spotted an elderly man on the sidewalk carrying two Trader Joe’s bags, one in each hand.

At first, I thought he was just walking funny. But on closer look, I realized he was using each bag as a weight, lifting each arm in a bicep curl every time he took a step.

That way, he was not only getting the benefit of walking to and from the grocery store—he also got an arm workout to boot.

Brilliant!

This man truly understood the importance of staying active and incorporating exercise in his everyday life—not just in the gym.

And we all should take a lesson from him.

Because despite how essential it is to do your interval training, your squats, your pull ups and your burpees—it’s equally as important to keep moving on a regular basis.

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Five Steps to Reaching Your Happy Weight Once and For All

If you could get to a place where you never had to worry about your weight again, would you?

If you’re like 99% of the people out there, your answer is most definitely yes.

(I don’t know what goes on in the other 1% of people’s minds, but let’s just assume they exist…)

Because let’s face it: trying to be healthy and fit sucks.

Constantly thinking about how you should be exercising, denying yourself your favorite foods, counting calories… it’s no fun. This type of thinking starts to take over your life, interfers with your social engagements, and totally stresses you out.

And on top of that, it’s probably not even working.

Find your happy weight

Everyone, including you, has an ideal weight. This is the weight where you don’t have to be overly concerned about what you eat, where you have plenty of energy to do all your favorite activities, and where you feel pretty damn good in a bathing suit.

This is called your “happy weight” (yes, this is an informal term). Basically, it means that you have the right level of body fat and muscle for your body.

When you reach this weight, you’ll be healthy and strong—but not overly skinny.

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On Being Hipster, Skinny Fat, and Getting Diabetes in Your 20′s

In my 26 years on this planet, I’ve had the privilege of living in some of the coolest cities in the planet—Portland, Amsterdam, New York, and San Francisco, just to name a few.

The one thing these places have in common?

Hipsters. Lots and lots of hipsters.

If you’re not familiar with the term (although you’d probably have to be a hermit to not have come into contact with it these days), the (condensed) Urban Dictionary definition of a hipster is:

“Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. Although “hipsterism” is really a state of mind, it is also often intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities. Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and sometimes thick rimmed glasses. Both hipster men and women sport similar androgynous hair styles that include combinations of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs.”

Now, I have no idea why, but one thing nearly all hipsters have in common is that they seem to avoid exercising at all costs (biking is the one exception).

It’s almost as if they consider being healthy and in shape to be ‘uncool.’

The strange thing is, because they subside mainly on cigarettes, beer, and tacos (please do not do this), most hipsters don’t actually appear overweight.

Instead, they perfectly embody what is everybody’s favorite body type to bash these days: skinny fat.

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What Does Living Mean to You?

What does living mean to you?

Does it mean being stuck in a stuffy gym, going round and round on some machine just like a hamster?

Does it mean sitting in a cubicle five days a week, getting your creativity sucked out of you in a dull, windowless room?

Does it mean doing something you’re not passionate about just so you can pay the bills?

Hating your body just because society tells you you should?

Living like you’ve lost your soul because you don’t know how else you should live?

If that’s the way you’re living your life, it’s time to change.

Because we’re only given one life, and we should do all we can to live it to the max.

This means, above all else, we should value:

Our health
Our relationships
Our souls

Nothing is more important. And whether you’re 25, 39, 57, even 88… it’s never too late to change.

Sore Muscle Treatments That Really Work

Okay, a show of hands…

Who else has ever experienced any sort of muscle soreness or pain?

I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that each and every one of you has been sore at one point in your life—and maybe even on a daily/weekly basis (I know I am).

And if you’re like most people, here’s how the pattern typically goes:

You work out hard, and you know that all the pull ups, push ups, squats, and burpees are insanely good for you and that not only will they keep you fit now, they’ll keep you strong, independent and happy later on in life.

But sometimes, you wake up the next day and realize you can barely move. Your neck hurts. Your legs burn. You wonder how you’ll make it through the day… let alone get through the next workout.

Sound familiar?

Well, unfortunately, there’s no magic button you can push to magically erase all your aches and pains. But there are several different ways to reduce and relieve muscle pain.

Here are some of my favorites:

How to Take an Active Rest Day

Does this sound like you?

You work out as hard as you can five or six days a week, making sure to include all the good stuff—intervals, squats, pull ups, push ups, and other good-for-you whole body exercises.

You make sure and walk or bike when you can, and if you don’t live in a city, you make a special effort to walk your dog or go for a stroll in the outdoors at least a couple of times a week.

Basically, you’re pretty active.

But what do you do on your off days?

You Only Have One Body—So Take Care of It Today

“My toilet seat is so low. I’m thinking about getting an extension. You know, so my knee won’t ache when I’m getting up.”

This is what I hear from the room next to me, as I’m laying face down on a squishy chair in my chiropractor’s office. The voice is husky, man-like, though obviously coming from a woman.

I hear my chiropractor ask the woman if she got new shoes as an electric current goes through my neck and causes a muscle spasm I can’t control.

“Yep,” she says, in an obviously disgruntled voice. “Velcro ones. I can’t bend over, you know, ’cause I’m so heavy. Once I lose a few pounds, I can get ones with laces.”

She then goes on and on to talk about her various health issues. About how she has a new folding cane, one that can fit in her purse so that if she has to go anywhere, she won’t slip and fall. She talks about the toilet seat again, and I hear my chiropractor, a petite woman in her forties, act interested.

God, I think, as another spasm takes hold of my body. Don’t let that be me.

_______________________

Like it or not, we were given one body to last us a lifetime. We can take care of this body, nurture it, keep it strong and healthy, or we can let it fall apart, so as the years go by we can do less and less with it.

It may be about looks now, but this body of your will be with you when you have children (if you don’t already). And it’ll still be there with you when you turn into a grandparent.

In fact, long past the time when you give a damn about what the opposite sex thinks of you, your body will still be yours.

Seven Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

How do you motivate yourself to exercise when there are dozens of things you’d rather be doing?

You know it’s good for you. Exercise helps you reach and maintain a healthy body weight, lowers blood pressure, gets rid of bad cholesterol, strengthens bones, lowers your risk for cancer, and decreases stress.

But we all know the truth: finding the time and motivation to get off the couch and work out isn’t always easy.

Here are seven ways to get—and keep—the motivation to exercise regularly:

1. Find something you enjoy doing.

Many gym-goers spend hours on the treadmill even though they hate it (this used to be me).

Yet there are plenty of other forms of exercise that can be just as (or more!) beneficial for weight loss and cardiovascular health.

Try a new class, substitute long cardio sessions with interval training, join a friendly sports team with your buddies—anything that will help you look forward to exercising, rather than dread it.

2. Keep track of your progress.

Using a journal to track measurements like weight and body fat percentage as well as progress made in your workouts will keep you much more motivated than looking in the mirror every day.

Just being able to see in print (or on the screen) that all your hard work has paid off can be the motivator you need to keep you working out on a regular basis.

3. Notice how you feel after exercise.

If you’re like most people, you may be tired and unmotivated before your workout, but feel nothing short of amazing afterwards.

All We Have is Our Health

I was watching old episodes of Ally McBeal the other day while doing some work (don’t ask me why—the selection on Netflix is pitiful these days), and during one early episode, after everything else in her life goes wrong, she repeats, “I have my health. I have my health. I have my health…” over and over.

And it’s true, isn’t it? There are so many things that are important to us… our families, our careers, our hobbies… but without our health, where would we be?

Yet for some reason, in this day and age, people seem to take their health for granted.

There’s so much information out there about how to keep yourself healthy into old age, yet people rarely follow it—thinking instead that they are invincible and that they don’t need to do these things and follow these rules, even though everyone else should.

Think about it.

How many people do you know that value their sleep?

Eat fresh produce on a regular basis?

Make an effort to exercise and be active in their daily lives?